Scottish Patient Experience Survey of GP and Local NHS Services 2011/12 Volume 3: Variation in the Experiences of Primary Care Patients

15 Detailed Findings - Disabilities

15.1 People were asked if they had any of the following disabilities:

• chronic pain lasting at least 3 months
• a physical disability
• deafness or severe hearing impairment
• a mental-health condition
• blindness or severe vision impairment
• a learning disability
• another long-term condition
• none of the above

15.2 The number of respondents who answered that they had one of these disabilities is shown in Table 13.

Table 13 Respondents who had a disability

15.3 For the analysis we compared in turn, for each disability, the experience of the group of people who had a particular disability with the group of people who did not.

Chronic pain lasting at least 3 months

15.4 Of the 39 questions modelled, having chronic pain lasting at least 3 months had a generally weak effect on experiences for 36 questions. In each case, those with chronic pain had a less positive experience.

15.5 Chronic pain had an effect on all questions relating to doctors, nurses, the GP surgery, out-of-hours and overall care. It also had an effect on the question relating to involvement in decisions about care and treatment.

A physical disability

15.6 Of the 39 questions modelled, a physical disability had a weak effect on experiences relating 25 questions. In each case those with physical disability had a slightly more positive experience.

15.7 Having a physical disability had an effect on all questions relating to doctors and overall care. It also had an effect on the question relating to involvement in decisions about care and treatment, and had an effect on most questions relating to nurses and medicines (5 out of 6 in each case).

Deafness or severe hearing impairment

15.8 Of the 39 questions modelled, deafness or severe hearing impairment had a very weak effect on experiences on 17 questions. In each case those with deafness or severe hearing impairment had a less positive experience.

A mental-health condition

15.9 Of the 39 questions modelled, having a mental-health condition had a generally weak effect on experiences on 18 questions. For 6 questions people with a mental-health condition had a more positive experience and for 12 they had a less positive one.

15.10 The areas where people with a mental-health condition had a more positive experience were mainly related to accessing services (5 questions).

15.11 The questions for which people with a mental-health condition had a less positive experience were mainly around nurses (5 questions) and medicines (6 questions).

Blindness or severe vision impairment

15.12 Of the 39 questions modelled, blindness or severe vision impairment had a weak effect on experiences for 9 questions, 5 of which related to medicines. In each case those with blindness or severe vision impairment had a less positive experience.

A learning disability

15.13 Of the 39 questions modelled, having a learning disability had an effect on experiences for 8 questions. In each case those with a learning disability had a less positive experience and 5 of the questions were related to medicines, especially around knowing enough about medicines and how and when to take medicines.

Another long-term condition

15.14 Of the 39 questions modelled, having another long-term condition had a very weak effect on experiences for 13 questions. For 9 questions people with another long term condition had a more positive experience and for 4 questions they had a less positive one.